


you should have seen that sunrise

by bellawritess



Series: brazil [2]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Beaches, Brazil, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Holding Hands, LMAO, M/M, Rating for Language, Romance, Sunrises, but like........a coda to brazil fic, but make it 5am, is this a coda? i think technically it's a coda, like literally. it's so sweet and cute, middle of the night adventures, so much fluff it's insane, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28309920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellawritess/pseuds/bellawritess
Summary: And then Ashton is whispering, “Luke,” reminiscent of earlier in the morning at the hotel, and this time Luke wakes immediately. “Look.”Luke’s eyes flutter open, and holy shit, the sun is rising.And it’s fucking gorgeous.
Relationships: Luke Hemmings/Ashton Irwin
Series: brazil [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073381
Comments: 9
Kudos: 30





	you should have seen that sunrise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [haikucal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haikucal/gifts).



> surprise bitch i bet you thought you'd seen the last of me :) actually probably not bc i am incapable of leaving a universe untouched but this idea just kind of. idk assaulted me? while i was trying to nap today. and now it's 2am. and. this exists
> 
> so. this fic is dedicated to a lot of people in small doses, but one person the most, and that person is [cam](http://haikucal.tumblr.com/), champion and #1 fan of brazil fic. honestly, cam, without the incessant love you gave to brazil fic i don't know that i'd have ever considered writing more of it, and now here we are, so you can rest easy knowing that this fic owes at least part of its life to you. i love you so very fucking much
> 
> that being said, i never got a place to give my profuse thanks to everyone who loved brazil fic, but there sure as fuck were a lot of you, and i got a lotta love on that one, which made me very (blushy emoji) because i love that fic and i loved writing it and it was very nice to have all that sexy sexy validation. so!! thank you all!!!! very much, from the bottom of my heart <3
> 
> also sexy fun fact this fic will be my 100th 5sos fic on ao3 so!!! that's a pretty neat accomplishment. shoutout to you guys for gettin me here lol
> 
> a clarifying note: this fic does take place during brazil fic, on their last night in brazil. and, as usual, suspend disbelief whenever and wherever you possibly can <3
> 
> in honor of madamoiselle cam, the title of this fic comes from 3x5 by john mayer, which YES i know is not your favorite john mayer song but john mayer as an artist makes me think of you and this lyric was too perfect to pass up

They get a taxi at five in the morning.

Before that, Ashton shakes Luke awake, and it takes a few tries, because Luke is trying to be asleep, like a normal person, but Ashton is insistent. He'd also been insistent that they get to sleep early because _our flight is at nine and we need to be well-rested,_ so when Luke finally does wake up it's with a jolt.

"Whassgoin? Are we late?"

"No, no," Ashton says. He's kneeling against Luke's bed looking suspiciously awake and not at all like he's been asleep for seven hours. "It's five in the morning."

"Ashton," Luke groans, burying his face in his pillows. "This is too early to go to the airport, surely you know that."

"I don't want to go to the airport," says Ashton, and he wraps his hand around Luke's arm. "There's something else I want to see and this is the last chance we'll have for a long time."

"Ash…" 

"Please come with me," Ashton says quietly. "I want you to see it too."

It is far too early to be enabling Ashton's tourist nature and Luke is tired and he knows that if he just let himself he could fall right back asleep right now and Ashton would be disappointed but he'd understand, he'd have to, they have a _flight_ to catch and Luke groans again and says, "Fine."

Because he's never in his life been able to resist Ashton and it's a joke to think he could start now. 

The taxi ride is only ten minutes and Luke wonders if they're going to get mugged or something, but he feels pretty safe with Ashton for no reason at all, and anyway his brain is still at five o'clock in the morning so his concerns all feel like they're covered in a layer of cotton swabs and he can't really reach them. By the time they're up and out and the taxi has dropped them off at Ashton's Mystery Location, it's half-past, and Luke is a little more awake. "Where are we?" he asks. Ashton just shakes his head and holds out a hand.

"This way," he says, and Luke takes his hand because — because Ashton is offering, and Luke wants to.

There are apartment buildings to the left and the beach to the right as they start walking. Ashton walks with purpose, and Luke is content to follow lazily along, swinging their hands between them, footsteps in sync as they pass palm trees and snack shacks that are closed at the hour. The tile underfoot keeps switching between black and white, although with the dirt and sand discoloring the pattern it’s more like black and tan. 

Between the waves lapping against the semi-distant shore and the sand crunching under their footsteps, the atmosphere sounds like a lullaby, the kind of thing Ashton would put on to fall asleep to. But he’s not asleep now, so Luke can’t be either, and with every minute they walk he feels a little less tired, more attuned to the rhythm of the city and his and Ashton’s matching footfalls.

"You're not taking me out here to murder me, are you?" Luke jokes.

Ashton huffs a laugh. "Yeah, I've been playing the long con. It's over, Hemmings. Your time is up."

"Oh no," Luke says lightly, giggling a bit. He wouldn't mind it, he thinks. Like, if Ashton were a murderer he would probably mind _that_ , but if he happened to die right now, holding hands with Ashton on a beach in Brazil, well. There are certainly worse ways to die. To have Ashton be the last thing he sees would be a gift.

Or maybe that's overly romantic and it's too early to be thinking _anything_ much less contemplating the fulfillment of Luke's life. Luke sighs and hurries forward to catch up; his daydream has caused him to fall behind.

“Do you want to walk on the beach?”

Luke shrugs. “Whatever you want.”

“Make a decision, Luke,” Ashton wheedles, brushing their shoulders together. “Hostage’s choice.”

If Luke’s a hostage, this must be how Stockholm syndrome feels.

“Why don’t you tell me what beach this is, at least?” Luke barters.

“Ipanema Beach. I think.”

“You think?”

“Well, I’m not exactly a native.”

“More native than I am,” Luke says good-naturedly. “If we walk on the beach I’ll get sand in my shoes, though.”

“Fine,” Ashton says. “No beach.”

Except that if Ashton wanted to walk on the beach then Luke would do it in a heartbeat.

They follow the promenade as it curves around the sand. Luke considers that they might be here to sit on the beach, but Ashton doesn’t make any effort to approach the water, so it’s probably not that. Beyond that, Luke has no idea. Knowing that this is Ipanema Beach doesn’t orient him at all, obviously, due to the whole not-being-Brazilian and also awake-at-five-in-the-morning things. They pass Posto 7 without slowing. Ashton’s hand grows warm in Luke’s despite the chill of the early air, although Luke is kind of shivering. During the days, the weather has been gorgeous — winter in Rio is mild in its mid-sixties — but now, at night, Luke is starting to feel the cold.

It’s too quiet for Luke’s liking. He looks further down the promenade to a hill of rocks and greenery. “Is that where we’re going?”

Unexpectedly, Ashton nods.

“What, really? I was joking.”

“In that case, no,” Ashton says, squeezing Luke’s hand. But he still guides them towards the rocks, and Luke, intrigued, allows himself to be guided.

“Can you please,” Luke cuts himself off to yawn, then continues over Ashton’s chuckle, “please tell me where we are? I wanna know.”

Ashton is quiet for a moment as he leads them up a set of stone-slab steps. It’s too dark without the beachfront lampposts, and Luke forgets his question briefly as he attempts to take the stairs without dying. He tightens his hold on Ashton’s hand, or maybe Ashton tightens his, but even when they reach the top and the back of Luke’s hand starts to get cold again from the exposure he doesn’t dare pull away.

The distant sounds of the beach disappear from behind them, but Luke can still hear them dimly from in front, and if he squints he can make out another beach ahead. It reminds him that he has no idea where they are or what the plan is, so he repeats his question to Ashton because maybe the third time will be the charm.

“It’s called…” Ashton hesitates. “Don’t laugh at me when I say this wrong. It’s called Pedra do Arpoador.”

“How the fuck would _I_ know if you pronounced it wrong?”

“Well — okay.” Ashton laughs quietly. “Anyway. It’s this big, well, it’s basically a boulder, and…I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

“Ashton,” Luke whines.

“Come on, it’ll be worth it,” Ashton says. “I promise you.”

So Luke stops asking, because the only thing Ashton loves more than being surprised is surprising someone else, and Luke would probably do any fucking thing to make Ashton smile. Why else would he be awake at five in the fucking morning the day they have to fly seventeen hours to a whole other continent and then play a concert as if they’re not dead on their feet from the travel.

Only for Ashton, is the point.

They pass cactuses or at least cactus-like plants and then climb up a slanted boulder and then there’s another path so they start down that, and even when it grows narrow neither of them move to separate, which suits Luke just fine. There’s not really room for the both of them until Ashton loops their conjoined arms around Luke’s shoulder, pulling him closer with a mumbled, “Don’t want you to fall.”

The path continues and they continue with it, through the darkness down winding trails and up occasional stairs until Luke is tempted to ask Ashton if they’re lost or if maybe he hadn’t been joking about taking Luke out to kill him, but he holds his tongue because he has _faith_ in Ashton, and sure enough.

“Here,” Ashton says, as they come up on a vast expanse of rock that almost dangerously edges the ocean. It slopes gradually downward into the water, disappearing under the waves. Ashton doesn’t pause so neither does Luke.

Unobscured by the trees and plants and everything, the lights from the beach sorta-almost reach the boulder on which they’re walking, but still — Luke stares at his feet as he walks because there are _ridges_ and he could _trip_ and he’d go sprawling forward and break his face open or tumble into the water or any number of — 

He clutches Ashton’s hand until Ashton says, “Luke, you won’t fall.”

“I _might_ fall.”

“Well, if you fall I’ll catch you.”

Luke opens his mouth to say _if I fall you’ll just go down with me,_ but instead he just shakes his head and says nothing.

“This isn’t it,” Ashton tells him, as if he can tell that Luke is wondering what the surprise is, exactly. Not that it’s not riveting as is, but he gets the feeling Ashton has something else planned. If he’d wanted to just sit outside in the dark, they could have gone to the roof of their hotel.

“What, are we gonna go for a swim?”

“Yeah,” Ashton says. “Hope you brought swim trunks.”

Luke just laughs.

“It’s kinda cold,” he says. Ashton had warned him to wear a sweater but Luke hadn’t really brought a decent one to Brazil, under the assumption that he wouldn’t be, you know, wandering around in the middle of the night-morning. He’s wearing a hoodie, but it’s not doing much.

“I’ve got a blanket,” Ashton says, “but let’s sit down first.”

“Sit?”

Ashton nods and comes to a halt. They’re several metres from the end of the boulder, and even further out, Luke thinks he can make out the silhouette of more rocks, but Ashton seems to decide that this will do. He shrugs off his rucksack and pulls out a blanket, which, okay, Ashton’s always been the prepared type but this seems a bit strange for a trip to Brazil when they’d already had accommodations sorted and all. Ashton is always a little bit of an enigma, so Luke decides he won’t bother asking.

Ashton passes the blanket off to Luke and then pulls out a beach towel, which he unfolds onto the ground beneath them. “There,” he says, hands on hips like he’s accomplished something. “Come on, sit.”

Luke obliges. Obviously he does. He’s already come this far on Ashton’s word so he may as well follow it all the way and see where it leads them.

“So,” Ashton says, clicking on his phone. “It’s nearly six now.”

“Yeah,” Luke goes, because hopefully Ashton will get the message that this is a _sleeping_ hour for people to be _asleep._ Not that he’d rather be sleeping than here. Well. Maybe he would. Maybe if he could sleep here, then that would be a compromise? It’s just, he doesn’t want to disappoint Ashton, and isn’t that kind of the core of all of Luke’s actions, just to make Ashton smile, to make Ashton proud, to make him feel like this band is something worth pursuing and so is Luke — isn’t it?

Or he’s fucking tired. One or the other.

Remembering the blanket, he shakes it out and wraps it around his shoulders. Then, on second thought, he picks up the left corner and offers it out to Ashton. “Cuddle for warmth?”

Ashton smiles. Luke wishes he could tell if he were blushing as well, but it’s too dark. “Alright,” says Ashton, and shifts closer to Luke, taking his end of the blanket and pulling it around him. It’s immediately warmer, possibly because Ashton is a very warm person, but probably not, Luke thinks. Probably it’s something more than that. Definitely he shouldn’t think too hard about it.

“And now…” he trails off and glances at Ashton. “This is the part where you explain to me why you woke me up at five in the morning to take me to this rock. Which is really cool, don’t get me wrong.” He has his suspicions now, about the objective of the trip, but he wants to hear it from Ashton, because if it is what he thinks it is then that’s — that’s really kind of fucking romantic.

“Okay, yes,” Ashton says. “So. This is the end of Ipanema Beach, and I don’t know if you really noticed when we were walking towards it, but it sort of juts out into the sea, which makes it a really good place to watch the sunrise.” A beat. “So. We’re going to watch the sunrise.”

And it makes Luke’s breath catch, because _really,_ that’s romantic, there’s no two ways about it, and he didn’t believe it when Michael said it but maybe he should have because Luke would never in a million years imagine waking anyone up for this sort of adventure — except Ashton, and he’s fucking in love with Ashton.

And Ashton’s woken _him_ for it, so.

So.

“Oh,” Luke says softly. He leans his head on Ashton’s shoulder. “That sounds nice.”

Ashton’s small sigh of relief makes Luke smile to himself. “Good. Well, according to extensive research I’ve done, it should be in about half an hour. I’ve heard it’s really lovely.”

“I bet it is.” Luke hums. “You know, I’m not really sure I’ve ever watched a sunrise.”  
“No,” Ashton says incredulously. “You must have done.”

Luke shakes his head. “I don’t think so.” Boldly, he adds, “I’m glad I’ll watch my first one with you.”

This time he’s absolutely certain that Ashton is blushing, even without looking, from the way Ashton mumbles, “Um, me too.”

They lapse into silence. Luke finds himself closing his eyes without really meaning to. It’s just really nice, is the thing, out here on the rocks in what could easily be mistaken for the middle of the ocean with his eyes shut; the lull of the water as it laps against the boulder and the warmth of Ashton at his side, shoulders pressed together, fingers brushing — it’s perfect and calming and Luke is awake at _six in the morning_ and he’s tired and he doesn’t mean to fall asleep but he does.

And then Ashton is whispering, “Luke,” reminiscent of earlier in the morning at the hotel, and this time Luke wakes immediately. “Look.”

Luke’s eyes flutter open, and holy shit, the sun is rising.

And it’s fucking gorgeous.

The darkness around them is being chased away by the resplendence of the sun’s rays as they coast over the water and steal ashore, a radiant glow that seems to come from nowhere, to ascend from the depths of the ocean in a gleaming golden swirl of pink yellow orange repeat. The sky above it looks like it’s on fire, and Luke’s hand unthinkingly slides into Ashton’s between their knees and laces their fingers together. He feels like he’s holding his breath, though for what, he couldn’t say, except maybe he knows that to breathe would be to interrupt this moment and he’s not worthy of that. He’s just Luke, and this — this is a dazzling sunrise.

For a second, Luke thinks he understands why the Ancient Greeks worshiped Apollo.

There’s nothing to even say, and he’s glad Ashton’s not saying anything either, although if anyone was going to be worthy of breaking the silence it would be Ashton, but Ashton doesn’t. They sit in dumbstruck awe as the sun keeps creeping higher, bathing the world in golden warmth. After a million years and maybe ten minutes, Ashton finally speaks.

“It’s pretty,” he murmurs, which, understatement of the year, but Luke has nothing to add. If he wanted to truly describe this sunrise they would be here all day.

“Yeah.” He squeezes Ashton’s hand. “Thank you. I’m glad you woke me up for this.”

“Yeah?” Ashton turns, looks at Luke, eyes glittering in the dawn of the new day. “I’m sorry you didn’t get as much sleep…and that I bullied you about it and then woke you anyway.” Luke laughs. “But. I’m really happy you came with me. I wouldn’t have wanted to see it alone.”

Luke nods, giving Ashton a small smile. “I wouldn’t have wanted to see it with anyone except you.”

There’s pink in Ashton’s cheeks that Luke can finally see. “Yeah. Me too.”

And in the morning light, this is a moment for just the two of them. Luke could grab it, could clench his fist around it and suffocate it. He knows he could kiss Ashton right now, the way Ashton’s holding his gaze and his hand, and he thinks Ashton would kiss him back, and he _wants_ to, he so does, but.

But.

But they’ve just watched the sunrise at Pedra do Arpoador and now they have to catch a flight which will fly them to another flight and they’re going to spend the next twenty-four hours being jet-lagged and exhausted and probably dehydrated (Luke) or asleep (Ashton) and they’ll be separated on the plane and it’s not the right time, is the thing. It’s not the right time.

This isn’t a moment for figuring it out. There will be other moments for that. Luke doesn’t kiss Ashton, but he smiles warmly and squeezes his hand a little extra-long and murmurs, “To many more sunrises with you,” and what he means is _to a thousand more moments like this,_ and when Ashton softly smiles, Luke knows he’s understood.

**Author's Note:**

> so! a nice little fun fact for you as a reward for reading all the way to the end (or maybe you just read the beginning notes and then hit the little more notes link button, i don't judge): my family and i actually did watch the sunrise at pedra do arpoador once! it was on rosh hashanah in 2014 (?), and yes it was cold, and yes i'm pretty sure i slept through it. i think lashton had a better time than i did, but in my defense i was like maybe thirteen
> 
> also i know i don't usually get long-winded in the end notes but i do have a shoutout, which i'd normally put in the beginning notes but i didn't want you thinking about it while you read. but anyway this shoutout is surprise surprise to [sam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellingatbabylon) for helping me decide what to do with the flight times. if you're insanely detail-oriented and have memorized brazil fic as i suspect cam has then you may recall the flight being at 7am but i changed it because i'm a madwoman and i needed it to be later. so the flight's at 9am now and everyone can relax
> 
> okay!!! i think that's everything. so. i hope you enjoyed this little peek into what lashton were up to while malum were cuddling after their beach date thing. i'm on tumblr [@clumsyclifford](http://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com/) and i am more than happy to chat about anything so come say hello :) love you all


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